


A Day In Danger and Hearts Change

by Miscellaneous_Ace



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: A little pining, Fair warning world building in a little heavy handed for a world that I didn't create, Hurt/Comfort, I lie a lot of pining, I like making fun detailed magic systems, Idk how to write Remus if I'm being completely honest but I am my muse's bitch and thus, Injury, M/M, Sorry Not Sorry, curious and rebellious!Patton, probably OOC characters, protective without understanding of why!Remus, secret dating au, what are you gonna do about it?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22893748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miscellaneous_Ace/pseuds/Miscellaneous_Ace
Summary: Patton only meant to bring a little warmth to the other sides on a cold day.He didn’t mean to end up in the clutches of the Dragon Witch. He didn’t mean to be saved from her by a surprising hero. He didn’t mean to fall for him.Remus had only meant to help Patton once.He didn’t mean to agree to let Patton illegally explore the Imagination as he wished. He didn’t mean to jump to his aid at even the smallest inconvenience. He didn’t mean to fall for him.No One Can Know.
Relationships: Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 30
Kudos: 86





	1. A Regretful Run In

**Author's Note:**

> Back On My Bullshit y'all.
> 
> This is my second Sanders Sides fic, and I'm going at it on my own this time, but... well, this was an interesting idea that's been messing with me for a few days and I cannot control the inspiration. (I have so many WIPs. Why am I starting up another one? Uuuuggghhhhhhh... Oh well)
> 
> Enjoy this mess of a story that's definitely too fast for it's content.

It began on a cold day. 

The only reason this day was cold, rather than the typical temperature the mind palace held was because Thomas had gotten himself sick, or rather he had ‘caught a cold’. 

Every side had been affected by the sudden chill, but most of all Roman. Thomas’ boredom, having been banned from real work by his friends, had left Roman working terribly hard to keep him occupied.

So, Patton had been making cookies for him, determined smile etched across his features. 

Well, he had actually made two batches. One was for Roman, the other for the little cuddle pile on the couch consisting of the anxious, lying, and logical sides of Thomas’ consciousness, though it had taken a lot of convincing to allow Deceit to cuddle with them (mostly out of empathy at his being affected by the chill awfully due to his reptilian relation). 

**_Ding!_ ** The oven sounded off, and Patton swiftly retrieved the cookies, letting one tray full slide onto a plate, and the other he left in the oven for a moment to stay as warm as possible.

He picked up the plate and bounced over to the cuddle pile, handing the cookies over to Logan, “To keep you kiddos,” He grinned and materialized a piece of toast covered in crofters jam in his other hand which he added to the pile, “Toasty.”

Logan took the offered food with a groan, “Was the pun truly necessary? And if you can simply manifest cooked food why do you bother cooking it?”

Patton booped Logan’s nose, “I have my secrets Lo~” He sang, before skipping back into the kitchen to dish out the other cookies.

Logan turned back towards the documentary playing before them mirroring Thomas’ current viewing, and took the toast as Deceit and Virgil each took a cookie from the pile. All moaning happily at their snack warming them from the inside out with the love that Patton imbued all his cooking with.

Patton giggled at them as he filled a bowl to the brim with cookies for Roman which he covered with a tea towel to keep them warm. Then he quickly pulled on his hoodie to wear properly to keep warm, before picking up the bowl with his sleeves to keep from burning himself.

“I’m going to take these to Roman, be right back!” He called, the cuddle pile turning to reveal their mouths comically filled with food. 

Deceit had unhinged his jaw to stuff eight cookies into his mouth, which though unsettling still made Patton beam with pride. Logan had shoved the entire piece of toast into his mouth, cheek stuffed like a chipmunk with jam covering them. Virgil was another chipmunk beside him, half a cookie sticking out of his mouth. Patton giggled at them, and the group turned away, Virgil waving him off for the collective, all clearly embarrassed at being caught out.

He smiled and crossed the room to Roman’s door, opening it gingerly. He stepped through the soft clouds billowing through the door and took three more steps before the clouds cleared to reveal a huge beautiful garden that fell before him, extravagant and littered with trees with figures tied to them, obviously sparring partners for Roman. 

Patton hadn’t come into Roman’s room in… well, years at least. 

Actually, the last time he had been here, he remembered now, was when Roman and Remus were one and the same, and tiny Patton had been scolded quite extensively about the dangers of the imagination. 

_ Never follow me too far into here, little heart, and never stray from my side, _ he had said, voice as loud and boisterous as ever, but it was coated in concern,  _ There are a great many dangers in the imagination, and little boys are lost without their hearts. _

Patton had heeded the warning quite seriously up until this moment, when he had flatly forgotten. He bit his lip and looked back at the door he had entered through. Roman had invited him many times to his room though, more times than Patton ever cared to count, and so surely it was ok now? But Roman also knew there were many dangers in his room, he fought them quite regularly, and his invitations didn’t include Patton wandering around on his own.

Patton’s thoughts and worries, and King’s warning echoing in his head, disappeared at a huff of warm air hitting his back. He turned back and was in a very different place, even though he had not moved, the world had moved without him. 

Before him stood a huge red and black scaled beast, green acid spilling from its mouth as its gaze bore into Patton, tucked into his cat hoodie and warm cookies in hand Patton suddenly felt very small and very defenseless. He looked behind him and fear hitched his breath.

_ The door was gone _ .

“You’re new, little cat man,” The impossibly huge and realistic dragon snarled and when Patton turned back to it he found its face but a few feet from him, he took a frightened step back, “Who are you?”

“P-P-Patton,” He whispered, tucking the bowl to his chest as his entire body shook with fear, if he wasn't terrified right now he'd have wondered why Virgil hadn't been summoned by the sheer panic running through Patton in that moment. 

The dragon brought up an impossibly long talon to Patton’s chin to raise his face to make proper eye contact, the talon was so long it would impale Patton clean through if the beast so wished to do that and so sharp the tiny pressure under Patton’s chin had already drawn blood. 

“Louder dear,” It snarled, “Dragon Witches do not have wonderful hearing.”

Patton felt compulsion to obey rush through his body at her first words, a command, a spell, “Patton.” He said louder, firm despite his fear and at completing the task he began to shake again and he shrunk away a little, not enough for the talon to do any more damage.

“A pretty little thing aren’t you,” She commented moving closer to inspect Patton even more critically, “King used to talk about a little heart who you resemble. Are you a little heart, cat man?”

Patton gulped, “Y-Yes,” he replied as loud as he could manage, matching his volume from when he’d been under the spell but not the same conviction.

She grinned and removed her talon only to gather Patton in a vice grip, her talons slicing into his clothing and body and drawing blood again, along his arm, thigh, and stomach. He let out an incomprehensible sound of protest and distress, King’s warning ringing in his ears.

_ There are a great many dangers in the imagination. _

_ A Great Many Dangers. _

Of course he would run into the first danger he could. Patton began to cry, not even noticing the bowl slipping from his grasp and breaking on the ground as she lifted him into the air. He wailed in fear and guilt and worry.

“Oh come now, little heart,” She teased with a frightening chuckle that sent a cold shiver through Patton’s body as he swallowed his sobs though the tears didn’t falter, “Wouldn’t want you to break prematurely, would we? Thomas would never understand,” She ran a talon through his hair, cutting at his scalp where it contacted and making Patton cry out in pain, “Why he was suddenly so terribly sad, just hollow inside, and why his empathy disappeared with his happiness. Just so confused when his heart wouldn’t answer his call.” She laughed gleefully, cruelly, “Oh what a poor boy! To lose his heart!”

Patton curled into himself pathetically, his tears of pain forgotten for tears of empathy. He was supposed to stay away from the imagination  _ for Thomas _ . It was his duty, it was what King had been talking about and he’d never understood until this moment. He wept and wept.

“Please, please don’t,” He begged, “Please, just let me go, I beg of you!”

“And never have this opportunity again?” She asked then laughed mirthlessly, “No, I don’t think so little heart.”

Patton swallowed his sobs and began to scream, “Roman! Roman help! Roman!”

She laughed properly, a wheezing and spluttering thing that sent acid spraying from her mouth both onto the ground and onto Patton, burning him, “Oh! Oh little heart, you are priceless! You think Roman is  _ here? _ No! He is with your boy, keeping him company in his misery.” She laughed again and leaned into Patton’s face, “No one is going to save you, little heart.”

Patton sobbed, tears streaming down his face and he coughed as he choked on his hopeless sadness. He was going to die here, despite how terribly  _ careful _ he’d always been. Despite heeding King’s warning for so long. Despite his undying faith in Roman’s princely need to rush to the rescue.

“Not if I have anything to fucking say about it.” A voice snarled from below before something wrapped around Patton’s ankle while a black and green tentacle slammed into her face, releasing her grip to instead grasp at her snout in pain. 

Patton was falling one second, and then the thing on his ankle tugged him down faster and then quite suddenly he was secure against a firm chest.  _ King, _ he thought in relief, weeping and gripping the shirt of his savior in a death grip.

The dragon witch snarled, “He is my prize! He does not belong here! You know this! We have a deal!”

His saviour growled, “I don’t give a shit, bitch. You don’t get Thomas’ heart. Not to mess with, not to hoard away, and not to destroy. That has always been the way, long before our deal.”

She growled, “He does not belong!”

“He is the heart!” He snapped back, arm holding firm around Patton’s waist, “He belongs wherever he wanders!”

“You cannot decree that! You are not-”

“I don’t give a flying fuck, bitch! He gave you to  _ me _ , to be  _ my _ beast. I have only utilised you to fuck with Roman by giving you free reign through the imagination, and that has been enough so far. But though I did not make you I can certainly unmake you.  **Do not fucking test me.** ” 

There was a rumble of protest before there was a loud thumping. Patton peaked out of his saviour’s chest to see the dragon witch reluctantly kneeling.

“As. You. Wish. Duke.” She growled, before taking off and flying away.

Patton pulled away in alarm, to find Remus glaring furiously up to where she had gone. 

His mouth went dry and confused tears prickled at the corners of his eyes, “Remus?”

Remus looked down, and hit Patton with a crazed smile that didn’t… didn’t reach his eyes, Patton noticed surprising himself mostly, his eyes were still concerned and furious, “Hey daddy. What’s a side like you doing in a dump like this?”

Patton frowned, “I-I… I made cookies, b-because it’s cold,” At the mention of the cold he shivered, noticing it now seeping in through the cuts and burnt away clothing caused by the Dragon Witch, “And I wanted to give them to Roman, but he’s not here, and then the place changed but I wasn’t moving and then there was a dragon witch and then-” He gasped and turned around, his hands covering his mouth in shock and mourning, “And then I dropped the cookies!” He wailed.

Remus pouted as he followed Patton’s gaze to the broken plate and cookies strewn across the ground, some crushed under the Dragon Witch’s feet and others covered in acid. Few were left whole, and Patton doubted any of them were warm anymore. Remus let go of Patton, ignoring Patton’s little noise of protest and approached the cookies, gathering them on top of the tea towel and then picked them up. Then he stood and bit into one of the worse covered acid ones and a bit of the broken bowl simultaneously, ignoring Patton’s wince at the crunch and grinding noise.

“Still good,” He said with a wild grin that was more sympathetic on his features than manic, he was trying to make Patton feel better clearly.

Patton giggled at him,  _ He’s cute when he’s being nice, _ he thought briefly, but stuffed it down, “Thank you Remus,” He paused and looked up to where the Dragon Witch had flown off, “F-For everything.”

When Patton looked down Remus was in front of him and frowning.

“What? Is there something on my face?” Patton gasped, “Is it a spider!” He shuts his eyes tight and his whole face scrunched up, “Hit it!”

“There’s no spider,” Remus replied a little strangled, he clearly wanted to put a spider onto Patton’s face now but was resisting the impulse, Patton opened his eyes and cocked his head curiously, Remus’ frown deepened as he wiped a streak of blood from Patton’s forehead, the cut somewhere in his hair, “You’re hurt.”

“I, well, yes… that was what she wanted to do, wasn’t it?”

“I should’ve been here quicker,” Remus replied sharply, guiltily, “She’s not supposed to hurt you.”

“Then what is?” Patton asked, a little frightened, “King said that there were dangers in the imagination a long time ago and I wasn’t allowed in here on my own, and I forgot because I wanted to share cookies, but if she isn’t the danger then what is?”

Remus frowned, “Everything is a danger in here, Patton. To you, to me, to Roman, everything. And if something isn’t a danger now it will be a danger later. The imagination lets ideas fester until they grow bad. I just speed up the process, make bad things with my ideas.” He cocked his head, “Why do you think Roman is always on high alert? That he’s always brandishing a sword? We have to be ready to attack, always. King was right…  _ we _ were right, you should never be here on your own.”

New tears streamed down Patton’s face and he looked down in shame, “I’m sorry.”

Remus sighed, tied up the tea towel in his arms to hold in one hand, and tugged Patton into a hug, “Just don’t do it again. It is far too dangerous.”

“Ok,” Patton whispered against Remus’ shoulder, “B-but why did it move without me moving?”

“Were you thinking about King?”

“A little?”

Remus nodded, “The imagination will take any side aside from me and Roman to the closest thing to what they think about in here. The Dragon Witch was the last thing King created, it threw Thomas into such discourse that King split into me and Roman, so thinking about King will lead you to her.”

“Why didn’t it take me to you? You are a half of King?”

“I am, but I am my own entity now, as is Roman. To find us you would have to think about us, not King.”

“Oh…”

Remus hummed, and pulled away, “Please don’t do that again, Patton.”

“I won’t… until I forget not to.” Patton promised.

Remus snorted, “Alright, that’s good enough for me.”

The green clouds overhead flashed red a second later, before taking on a red gradient, and Remus pulled away though his hands were firm on Patton’s shoulders.

“Roman is home, and if he doesn’t get to be the dashing prince he’ll bitch for forever.”

“I, oh, ok…?”

Remus smiled, and though it was toothy and sharp and a little too wide to naturally sit on anyone’s features, it was a lovely crooked and kind smile that Patton mirrored with a soft smile of his own, before Remus released Patton’s arms, “Alright, close your eyes and think about Prince Charm-a-lot for me, ok?”

Patton frowned, “But won’t the imagination take me to him?”

“That’s the idea, Papi,” Remus replied with an amused chuckle, “Also, the dragon witch def stole these cookies if Princely Poo asks.”

Patton giggled a little, “Ok.” He leaned forward and kissed Remus’ cheek, “Thank you,” he whispered as he closed his eyes and thought of the red and white clad twin, feeling the world whisk him to Roman now that he was paying attention.

“Patton?!” Roman shrieked as Patton materialized before him, blue eyes meeting brown, “What happened?!”

It hit him again, how close he was to death, and Patton began to cry again, only to be gathered up in the strong embrace of the other creative twin.

“I-I-I don’t like the Dr-Dragon Witch,” Patton sniffled, clinging desperately to Roman’s sash.

Roman gasped in alarm, “Oh my Disney, Patton! Are you ok? Did she do this to you?”

“Mhm,” Patton hummed into Roman’s chest, tears staining the princely side’s sash.

Roman stroked his hair a little but stopped at Patton’s wince and let out a horrified noise at the blood on his fingers.

“Oh, sweet Patton, I’m so sorry. I’ll talk to Remus, she’s his beast after all he should be able to punish her properly for these crimes.”

“Y-you don’t need to,” Patton answered softly,  _ He’s already dealt with her... _

“I very much do! It is one thing setting that abomination of a creature on me and my makings and another to set her against you!”

“He didn’t set her on me,” Patton whispered in protest, “I was thinking about King and then I was in front of her.”

Roman nodded, “Yes, that is what the imagination does to sides other than Remus and myself. It will take you to the things you think about in your mind’s eye, if Remus and I try to do such a thing we just make a copy of the thing we were imagining.”

Patton had wanted to tell Roman he already knew that first half, but he was so very tired now.

“Actually, I should ask this, why are you here Patton?”

“Made you cookies cause it’s cold,” Patton slurred, was his eyes always this droopy? Was it always this hard to stand? 

Roman gasped, “She stole my cookies?!”

Patton nodded sleepily, because Remus had said to say so.  _ I need to thank Remus again, for saving me, _ His eyes snapped open as the ground began to give way, _ but not right now. Now is Roman cuddly time, _ he thought loudly and the floor stopped. He sighed, “Roman, can we leave please? I’m losing a lot of blood.”

Roman gasped in alarm and picked up Patton bridal style and rushed out of his room, startling the cuddle pile into becoming a heap on the floor as he started yelling, but by then Patton had passed out, a kind and crooked, a little manic, smile etched into his dream.


	2. The Information Station Is Up And Running

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here you go y'all. I should... I should be doing so many other things...
> 
> But I listened to Wasn't Expecting That by Jamie Lawson on a roadtrip and got Hella inspired.... so here we are.... (Check it out if you want, it's pretty good.)

Roman, after placing Patton in the capable care of Logan and Virgil (Deceit having slipped away in the commotion), rushed back and stormed over to Remus’ side of the imagination, finding his twin idly sitting on a tree covered in barbed wire with  _ No Brothers Allowed! _ Etched into it at the edge of the border where Roman’s lovely and pretty forest of Disney Background levels of foliage bled into Remus’ dead and creepy forest. Much like how the forest in Snow White changes, though Remus’ always resents that comparison.

“Have you heard?” Roman snapped up at him.

Remus looked down at him, studying his demeanor, before flipping off of his branch, his legs making a sickening snapping noise as he landed that made Roman flinch, but Remus only shook his bones back into place.

“What?”

Roman glared, “Patton was attacked by  _ your _ Dragon Witch. So, what are you going to do about it?”

Remus watched his brother for a long minute, “What do you want me to do, brother? I do not control the bitch.”

Roman growled and took Remus’ collar up in his fist and slammed Remus into the tree, the barbed wire definitely cutting up his clothes at least though he was unperturbed, “I want you to fucking deal with her.”

“I already have, dip shit,” Remus hissed, before he smirked, “But this is kinda kinky.”

“Oh fuck you,” Roman rolled his eyes, dropping Remus’ collar.

“Gross,” Remus replied, grinning manicly, “I know incest is kinda brushed off by Disney, so you’re more desensitized, but it’s still a no go Roman.”

“ **Can we please talk about Patton!** ” Roman screeched, “He got hurt because of your dumb fucking beast!”

“He shouldn’t have been in here,” Remus replied, a little hotly, trying to shake the sudden echo of Patton’s screaming out of his mind, “Did you tell him that?”

“Oh, sure, yeah, right after he passed out from blood loss because he was  _ attacked _ .” Roman hissed.

Remus stilled, “He… He passed out?”

“Well, ye-”

Within a second Roman found himself slammed into the tree, barbed wire scraping his back and cutting up his clothes.

“ **What the fuck were you doing?!** ” Remus screeched in his face, “Why the fuck did you let him bleed out, you dumb shit head! You’re supposed to be the fucking heroic twin! Do I have to do fucking  _ everything _ for you?!”

Roman stared at him blankly, “What-”

Remus started choking him, “No, you don’t get to talk right now. I don’t want to  _ fucking _ hear a thing out of you when  _ you _ let corazón bleed out. When you left the door unlocked to let him in, and didn’t tell him you weren’t even fucking here, so his quest to give you cookies was fucking pointless. You were the one that didn’t warn him about not thinking about King.  **You are the one that didn’t fucking save him, you dumb fuck!** ” 

Roman stared at his brother in shock as Remus stopped choking him, pushing him harshly into the tree, “ _ You _ saved him?”

Remus was seething again, “You say that as though you’re surprised,” he growled, “Why wouldn’t I save him?”

“Because you’re… you.” Roman replied wincing a little at Remus’ glare, “Why not sit back and watch her tear him apart? Join in on the action?”

“Because no.” Remus replied, recoiling at the thought, he was already unsettled by the image of Patton being hurt, to join in? He was horrified.

“I… really?”

“Plus,  _ you _ think I’d do it. Obviously I can’t do it after that.”

“Right,” Roman replied rolling his eyes, ““Chaos cannot be predicted.” I know.”

Remus sighed, “I’m getting predictable, uh… Fish balls.” He threw them in Roman’s face.

Roman closed his eyes for the onslaught but just looked fed up and used to it. “Sure. Let’s just make this very important conversation about shits and giggles.”

“You want an important conversation? Fine. Let’s talk Patton, and open  _ this _ can of worms," His voice deepened a touch and Roman's eyes widened in surprise, "You don’t seem to  _ understand,  _ Roman. There are no other options when it comes to Patton's safety. Patton doesn’t get hurt, we don't  _ let _ Patton get hurt, that’s the law of the mind. It existed first before anything else. First Patton existed, when Thomas was still an itty bitty fetus, and the first law accompanied him. Patton is linked to Thomas’ physical heart and well being, which makes him the closest to human out of all of us. That means that when he is in here, unlike the other sides, he cannot heal instantly after leaving. He isn’t human though, it won’t take nearly as long as it would have taken say… Thomas to recover from those injuries, but it is different from the others.”

“Oh,” Roman whispered, taking the change in his brother in stride, “I see.”

There was, as mentioned above, a deeper note that accompanied his voice, and his eyes seemed to be too deep, like he suddenly knew a great deal more than he let on. He stood a little taller and he was quite suddenly something  _ more _ than Remus. When they were still newly formed Roman likened it, to Remus’ delight, to the unsettling descriptions of fae creatures (it was around that time he’d taken on the sharper teeth and wild smiles). 

This happened sometimes, to both of them, when one knew something the other didn't. Something from their time as King. They weren’t not themselves though, they were just… more than themselves for a bit.

“You really don’t,” Remus hissed, the bite to his voice even sharper than normal and the glare he wore was a little strange to see on his features rather than a manic smile, “Before a baby's mind is formed, their heart beats. Before Thomas had any real use for morality or emotions he had Patton. Not in any real way, not in any way like now, he just existed because Thomas existed. As time went on, slowly Patton woke up and started regarding the world around Thomas. He was alone, and curious, but all he could do was watch. Eventually, though, he started asking questions of what could be, and then we were- King was formed,” Remus paused, watching Roman to make sure he was taking all this in, “We were there to answer all his questions, at first. Until the questions started to change from what could be to what was, and Logic… Logan was formed. Do you remember?”

“I remember he was annoying,” Roman replied, not quite hearing the added note to his own voice as he delved into the old memories of a time long passed, “But he’s always annoying. Like-”

“Get out of here with your facts!” They quoted simultaneously, sending a mirrored smile to one another before the well of knowledge fell from Roman’s grasp and he was just himself once more.

“So why… why are you telling me this?”

Remus sighed, “Because you have to understand that Patton is so much more than you believe, than what he believes. He is more than Morality or emotions. He is Thomas’ heart, his core. When he grows, and changes, sides can be formed in answer. He is why we exist, it’s what everything comes back to. Without him… without him we serve no purpose to Thomas. If he died today… I don’t know what would have happened. Potentially Thomas could have just keeled over, kicked the bucket. Probably that. If not that… well, we might cease to exist and I don’t even know what that would have done to Thomas. Something bad, for sure. The closest we’ve ever gotten, beside today, to Patton dying was when Thomas was small with whooping cough, but that wasn’t quite what I’m talking about because it was Thomas being sick and weak hurting Patton, not the other way around… but even that instance was horrible to deal with,” His eyes darkened as he thought in a way that hadn’t happened before, brown eyes nearly resembling black as Remus fell into the memory, “It was awful, Roman… He was practically thrown across rooms with the coughing. He passed out… so many times… We had to tie him down.”

Roman winced, and nodded, reaching out and grasping his brother’s arm firmly which pulled Remus’ eyes back to normal, the well of memories visibly falling away with it, “No wonder you don’t want to go through that… for real.”

“Perish the thought,” Remus replied hoarsely, still recovering from several different shocks from today alone but specifically the last one. 

Roman nodded, and pushed himself off of the tree, tugging on his clothes to mend them as well as straighten them, before looking to Remus purposely, “I’ll take care of him. Ok? You don’t need to worry.”

Remus’ gaze deepened, but in a different way. This wasn’t Remus looking back to his time as a part of King, this was his time as King looking through him to the present. This wasn’t new for either twin to see, so Roman smiled reassuringly not quite addressing Remus but not disregarding his twin either.

“I’ve got him.” He assured firmly.

“Of course you do,” Remus answered, but his voice was filled with half a dozen foreign notes of regality and sureness, Roman felt the presence forming behind his own eyes,  _ I’m you _ it seemed to say from within somewhere.

The twins shivered and the presence disappeared again, Remus shook his head like a wet dog to try and be rid of the strange, but familiar, feeling it always left in its wake. Roman was less affected by it, and so didn’t feel the need. 

Eventually Remus’ evil grin was back as he raised an eyebrow at Roman, “The fuck do you think you’re doing in my territory anyway?” 

Roman shrugged, “I don’t know, I'm a little worse for it. Stepped in dukey.”

Remus rolled his eyes, “Get some new jokes.”

“Get a new title, rat man.” Roman retorted, and stepped to the side into a temporary door to go and do everything he could for Patton.

  
  


Once his brother was gone Remus stepped up to the tree and promptly threw up. Gasping for breath as tears ran down his face. The memories, for once, were his as they flashed behind his eyes. The image of Patton held suspended in the Dragon Witch’s grip, helpless and vulnerable, made his stomach churn and he wasn’t sure if it was entirely his feeling, if the deepness he had been feeling so much today was anything to go by. 

But the smell of his blood was still fresh in Remus' nose in only a way that he, personally, having experienced it could accomplish, and Patton’s shaking from the adrenaline and terror still rushing through him was branded into Remus’ own shaking form in a similar way.

He retched the rest of his stomach contents, which surprisingly enough only really consisted of those acid covered cookies he’d eaten previously, and must’ve (by his account later) been the real reason he was throwing up. Remus was all full of nasty imagery, so the image stuck in his head and the smell stuck in his nose and the shaking still raking through his frame shouldn’t have affected him like that, but that damn venom had never sat well in his stomach so it was more plausible. Obviously.

Remus fell back into a pile of garbage that materialised behind him once he was just dry heaving, and groaned softly, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes to no avail. He was beginning to think King was bringing the image to the forefront of his mind, but if he had a reasonable part of his brain it would remind him that King’s, well, he liked calling it possession though that had very different connotations, had left before Roman had… but since he didn’t have a reasonable part of his brain he decided, instead, to blame King for keeping it in his head anyway.

He turned over and took in deep heaving breaths of the bitter disgusting smell of rotten foods which masked the smell of Patton’s blood, waved away the image that made his chest tight to the point of pain, and slowly eased the shaking in Remus’ shoulders.

Now that all that left him alone, however, Remus found himself thinking about how much the scene had affected him, personally, which didn’t make much sense at all and he couldn’t attribute it to King really. If King had been affected like this, which he hadn't, then he would only feel it in his mind, not in his physical reaction. No, King had been eerily calm about the whole thing, which Remus now knew to be because he had experienced something similar before.

So  **Remus** had been freaking out which he couldn’t quite understand, and though he was a being of unpredictable and incomprehensible nature, he usually knew what the shit he was on about at least. Instead he was just as confused by his reactions as Roman had been by his actions (which he still resented, by the way. He was a disgusting and awful monster of a person… but he had Standards).

“What the fuck is wrong with me,” He groaned softly, not really expecting an answer and not receiving one. He lay still for a long moment just acknowledging his breathing as he waited to be struck by an epiphany or at least an impulse to do something else… but no such luck.

So he started to think about Patton again, though purposefully in a different light. 

Patton had triggered something deep in him, though that wasn't new. He attributed that to King, and he knew why. King and Patton had been incredibly close, and if even half the lingering feelings surrounding the memories Remus had access to were to be believed then that closeness had been at least a deep pining and protectiveness on King’s part. 

Knowing this, however, meant that Remus just tried to avoid Patton for the most part, as not to awaken the presence in his mind because, quite frankly, he didn't like it. He didn't like the memories, or the emotions, or the  _ presence _ in his head.

That didn't mean Patton was free of his shenanigans, however. No, he refused to stop messing with Thomas on every level, but he didn’t affect Patton head on. Where he would set up huge elaborate traps in Virgil’s room to keep him on his toes or vandalize Logan’s books or room with Sherlock porn (which got him the desired momentary reaction before Logan remembered the object impermanence of his existence and just fixed it), he usually only hit Patton with something small. Like a dead animal on his pillow or something equally small that freaked him out while not going so far as to trigger King into guilting him into removing it entirely before Patton could see (which had happened more times than Remus cared to admit). 

He was very careful now not to take things too far. Always careful with Patton. (Though he was definitely the cause of Patton’s arachnophobia, he took great pride in that.) So it kind of surprised him that Roman thought he would  _ ever _ be capable of doing something so severe as  _ hurt Patton _ when he couldn’t even bring himself to put a bear trap at Patton’s door or to tear up his Thomas’ Life Memorabilia, things that wouldn't actually permanently damage his person or purpose. 

Though Remus supposed, he still  _ bothered _ Patton so it wasn’t so clear his avoidance. But how could he not prank and disrupt Patton’s day? He relished Patton’s squeals of protest and alarm, how he looked around everywhere for a culprit, eyes wide whether the crime was a gutted cat under his couch cushions or a spider running up his arm. 

Patton’s screams, however, haunted him. Unlike his fright and alarm from Remus’ usual presence, Patton’s screams from his… time with the Dragon Witch were filled with horror, born of true terror, a sound formed from the fear of death. And though that was enough to unsettle the feral side, it wasn’t the image that truly plagued his mind. No, that was how Patton’s wide eyed terror seemed more… resigned. It had been awful seeing him like that. Cut, and burnt, and  _ giving up _ . 

As though Roman was the only thing standing between Patton and death at the absence of King. 

As though Remus didn’t care? As though he didn’t know how terribly important Patton was and how much danger he was in in the imagination? As though King didn’t live through Remus as much, if not more, than he did Roman (Because the ghost of his old self was the closest thing Remus had to a conscience)? 

As though Remus would rather get viciously fucked by a chainsaw than save Patton.

_ As though you were no help anyway. _ His mind helpfully provided and he acknowledged faintly that it was entirely him, as King was still sleeping in his consciousness somewhere, as he growled against the tears prickling his vision. 

That was dumb, he didn’t care what Patton thought. Patton was a dumb little heart, too innocent for his own good, too naive to be in such a dangerous place bearing nothing but a bowl of cookies. (Though they were delicious, and Remus was sure they would have satiated the intentions of a great many other creatures that crawled in here, untethered to either creative twin.)

He sat up in his pile of trash and reached into the tree trunk to retrieve said cookies still wrapped in the tea towel and smiled softly. He sniffed the tea towel and scrunched up his nose a little at the sweet smell it radiated, he could smell the  _ love _ that had been baked into the confectioneries, which made his stomach twist as he thought about how  _ no one _ except Patton could do that, Thomas’ heart or no.

“Some things never change,” The feeling, deep and old, surfaced slightly but Remus chased it away with a quick, “Like bestiality!” 

Then he sighed, and glared in annoyance before he tossed the tea towel and cookies back into the tree, with the intent of letting them grow some mold, before he flopped back into the garbage though the stink wasn’t quite as comforting. “Damn King, with his dumb caring about things.”

He didn’t acknowledge it, but even at that moment he knew… King wasn’t the only part of him that cared anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I know that was a Huge info-dump of a chapter, and introducing even More worldbuilding into sanders sides when it's already Rich with lore....
> 
> But I have no impulse, ok? and it seemed like a cool concept and that's like 90% of my reasoning behind doing anything in a fic so there's no coming back from that. And generally... that's my style of writing, babes. I am my own Remus. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it at least lmao <3


	3. Wild Things Being Not So Wild

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, once again back on my bullshit. 
> 
> Well, just uploading my bullshit i suppose. This has been done for A While. I wanted to finish up chapter 5 before I uploaded (as I might not touch the fic again for a while, writing Or uploading) but to heck with it, this is fine.

It was a couple hours later, and Remus had come to a completely different conclusion as to what had to happen than what he had discussed with Roman, which wasn’t really surprising. Remus was wont to change his mind  _ all the time _ , so he wasn’t very bothered.

He’d decided that Patton needed to be safe, first and foremost, but not wanting him in danger was very different from trying to stop him. 

Patton was the core, the beating generator of Thomas, and the real power source for the mind palace and assorted rooms. If he needed to, if he  _ wanted to _ he could circumnavigate the doors easily. He’d done so before, even though he was certainly too young to remember when he’d done  _ that _ . So, leaving him to make bad decisions due to curiosity wasn’t a good idea, and he couldn’t back that anymore. But something needed to change, because this system wasn’t working either, clearly. 

He was still contemplating what to do exactly with this decision as his hands mindlessly forged the idea of a weapon designed for the heart in question, sat atop his bed of nails, and though it was slow going due to distraction and fucking it up a few times already… it felt good. It felt good making something for Patton ( _ again _ , King uselessly reminded).

It felt good making something that didn’t quite go against his nature, as any side seeing Patton with a weapon was going to freak the fuck out and any imaginanimal (what he and Roman had taken to calling the untethered creations strewn through the imagination that neither of them could control after they split) that saw it would definitely be struck at least with fear, but it was actually something useful, something that would protect Patton. And though it definitely felt good, feeling good felt strange to Remus. That was the best description he could give the feeling settling into him, the unease he felt about the happy  _ something  _ squirming in his chest. (There was nothing physically there, he checked… several times.)

He was just finishing the intent of the weapon -still unsure how it would physically form yet (in a stage that no human words of any language could describe), and reminding himself that this was the only way for him to make such a weapon, something created to protect, that it would take a lot of time and consideration and tweaking to create something so unaligned to his natural way of creating things, something  _ designed  _ to protect- when there was a flash of red through the clouds.

The darkly adorned twin nodded in acknowledgement, sheathing the incomprehensible weapon in a large frog carcass beside his bed and began the trek to Roman’s side of the imagination. 

As he crossed the border he stopped at his  _ No Brothers _ tree, and paused, before pulling out the tea towel hooked on a barb. It was just a tea towel now, as he’d stuffed his face full of the cookies a while ago, and frankly he’d been a little horrified at how good they were if he was being honest because he didn’t typically like good and sweet anything, but… god fucking dammit, Patton was just a good fucking cook, ok? It was just that fucking simple.

He took a deep breath of it, the sweetness of the cookie smell still lingering and making his stomach twist as it reminded him of the true owner of the piece of fabric… before he stuffed it in his pocket and continued on his way, not paying it any more thought and forcefully ignoring the lightness in his chest as his fingers ran over the fabric.

Eventually he made it all the way to Roman’s castle, and took pause to admire the violent end of a particular stuffed opponent that had been tied to a tree, its stuffing was all over the ground and he couldn’t quite make out what it was supposed to be (Though he suspected it once resembled him before the real Remus had done something to piss of Roman by the sheer damage done to it alone), before he shrugged and leapt up to the balcony into Roman’s castle. There he found his brother face down and groaning softly into his bed of roses, he was clearly exhausted though whether that was just emotionally or all the forms of exhaustion was unclear.

“What did you tell them?” He asked idly, approaching and sitting on the end of Roman’s bed, the roses becoming more bramble, thistle and thorn than flower.

Roman rolled onto his back and sighed, something that rattled in his chest, “I told them that you dealt with the Dragon Witch. She’s still out there, but she can’t touch Patton again. I also told them that Patton couldn’t go into the imagination after this, it was far too dangerous. I’ve locked my door.” He summoned the door beside Remus to prove his point, gesturing for Remus to try it.

Remus frowned, “Wait, you actually banned him?”

Roman sat up and frowned right back at him, angry and confused, “You told me to!”

“I tell you to do a lot of things, shove that sword up your ass for example, that’s an oldie but a goodie, and you’ve never followed  _ my _ orders.”

“Because they’re usually dumb and gross and not reasonable in any way shape or form! Taking care of Patton is none of those things, and keeping him out of the imagination, the Danger… that’s not unreasonable either. Or dumb. Or gross.”

Remus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Ok, sure, but it’s something I told you to do so it is, inherently, something you shouldn’t do anyway!”

“Yeah but now you’re telling me not to do what you told me to do,” Roman replied, his frown deepening, “Now I’m just confused.”

“Fucking same,” Remus groaned, “But… but you can’t just  _ ban _ him. Decisions are inherently Patton’s domain, he is Thomas’ core but that doesn’t diminish his role as morality and that means he bestows the judgement on most decisions. In fact, on this particular decision he had  _ the most _ control. He is the heart, the core, the generator of  _ everything _ . You can’t keep him out of the imagination if he wants to come in. It’s like locking your door against a police officer, bitch is getting through no matter what. Like shutting a cat out of the toilet, we just need to open the door, give him the option, and he’ll leave soon enough.”

“... What?”

“Shut up, ok… it’s… he’s got the key, and the key is the shape of a sledgehammer. He  _ will _ find another way in if he wants one.”

Roman blinked, “That was a surprisingly good metaphor, are you ok?”

“It is taking  _ all _ of my self control not to mess with it, and I have very little self control, we’ve been known, so let’s move on before it dissolves into something you wouldn’t listen to, like-” He slapped a hand over his mouth and bit back the words, before shaking his head, “Anyway, this bullshit ain’t gonna stop him, if he really wants to come in he’s gonna come in.”

“Not if we’re careful,” Roman replied, “And we seal off every way in. Then he’ll have no option but to forget all about it!”

Remus watched him for a long minute, “I… are you even…” He took a long suffering breath, “Ok, sure. Yeah, ok. Fucking, alright. I’m going to go mess with Deceit now, make myself feel better after dealing with your stupidity for far too long today,” He grinned, smiling in craze.

“Uh, yeah, sure…” Roman replied a little lost, a little uneasy, “Right, yeah, have fun with that.” He sighed, “Honestly, I’m not sure why that poor snake stands you, at least I don’t have a choice… make sure you lock  _ your  _ door on the way out.”

Remus had already crossed the room, tossing a non-committal wave of a middle finger over his shoulder before he leapt off of the balcony.

He went into a perfect swan dive through his door, and becoming a Remus pancake of gore on the floor of the dark-side living area, the mind palace reverberating with his entrance. 

“Why aren’t you like this?” Deceit’s voice hissed into the ear that had landed next to him on the couch. He was covered in blankets, looking sleepy and shivering still with the cold. 

Remus plucked himself up off the floor, shaking his body back into place, and plucked his ear off of the arm rest to lean against the couch and answered with only a shrug. 

He took in Deceit’s state with a quick glance before he grinned like a balloon artist about to make something especially intricate. 

A python formed around his shoulders and fire imps materialised in his palm which he shoved down the python’s throat with the flourish of a street performer. After a few of these, however, the python seemed hooked and started inhaling the fire imps itself, blowing puffs of smoke out of its nose and looking generally too pleased for a snake. Once the python seemed full Remus handed it over to Deceit who let it slither around his body and sighed in content at the warmth. 

“You’re a  demon ,” Deceit remarked at the kindness, though if he hadn’t lived with Remus for forever he might’ve very well have been a bit more wary about the image of a snake getting high on fire imps than he was grateful for it.

Remus grinned, “You’re not welcome.” 

Deceit sighed happily, sinking into his blanket pile happily, rolling his shoulders, pleased.

Remus took in this reaction and smiled, he’d thought it would take a fair few more lies than this to get Deceit to this stage of content, he smiled satisfied anyway, “Well, I’m (not) going to mess with the lights now. See you  never .”

Deceit’s pupils dilated and he giggled, like a cat on catnip. Remus attributed it to the python’s warmth that reduced his sharpness, so he couldn't decipher the actual words that made up the lie. 

The feral side nodded curtly and gingerly oozed into the vents and began making his way towards the light sides.

* * *

In the kitchen he found Virgil sitting on top of the fridge, a place he often sat when particularly upset or stressed, Remus winced and bit his lip as worry crept into his chest at the sight, though whether that was of his own volition or because it was radiating out of Virgil like waves, he had no idea. 

“If you continue to wallow, Thomas will start to get affected,” Logan informed from his place also in the kitchen, mixing batter and getting it all over himself.

“I’d stop if you stopped making that cake like Patton is never going to be able to.”

“Patton will be fine,” Logan replied, though the almost lie left a tangy scent in the air to the other two sides, senses more acclimated to that sort of thing having lived with someone who thrived from them. 

It wasn’t a true lie, because Logan didn’t know if Patton would be fine or not, so his saying so with such conviction was like Schrödinger's cat, both true and false.

"I am making him a cake, however," He continued, "So that he will have a cake when he wakes up. It will likely make the news about his… banishment from the imagination a little easier to swallow. I am not cooking because I believe he will no longer be able to, his injuries didn’t seem to hinder that.”

Virgil’s nose had wrinkled at the Schrödinger's lie, but he knew why Logan kept doing it, he wanted to ease Virgil’s concern and he didn’t know Virgil could smell his uncertainty, “Alright, just… finish it quickly. I want to go check on him.”

“Checking on him every second makes little difference, Virgil. He will get better, and you only seem to get more riled up every time we check to find no change.”

“He should be getting better! The injuries should have disappeared!”

“Roman said that injuries in the imagination will last on Patton, for less time than they would if a human sustained them, but not nearly as quickly as we can heal ourselves, and there is little we can do but change his bandages and wait.”

“What if Patton gets worse?”

“Then we will ask Roman what he believes we should do, and we’ll make anything else that should aid Patton’s recovery.”

“Oh, what’s that then?” Virgil snapped, “Life support?!”

Logan flinched, “No.” The lie was vile in the air.

Remus recoiled away from the vent as his stomach twisted like he’d just just downed a barrel of Dragon Witch venom. Did the logical side really think that might be necessary? Only if Patton got worse, he assured himself, but they weren’t checking on Patton to make sure that wasn’t the case. 

He rushed through the vents, silently, to Patton’s room.

* * *

Dropping into Patton's room, Remus was once again reminded how different they were, but still similar. 

Patton room had a certain smell about it, much like Remus' did, but the moral sides' was that of a bookstore or your favourite room in the house, not blood and guts and horse shit. 

Fairy lights sparkled across the walls where Remus might hang entrails, and dust motes swirled prettily in the light where ash would float through the air of his room. 

He scrunched up his nose at the lovely smells, and the pretty lights, and the soft dust motes, using every ounce of self control (of which there was very little) to resist the urge to fill the already cluttered room with stinky garbage. 

Lying on the couch, with a blood filled drip above his head, lay Patton breathing softly and reminding Remus of Snow White with how pale he was. 

Though he quickly amended that thought and would rather compare him to a ghost or ghoul, or something equally present in horror movies and not a disney princess, as Roman would do.

The bandages all over him, expertly placed by Logan he was sure, made his stomach churn unhappily. Remus just felt increasingly uncomfortable by Patton’s discomfort, and approached. He sat gently beside Patton and winced when Patton’s face contorted, nose scrunching up. He immediately looked to make sure he hadn’t sat on Patton accidentally, but he hadn’t so he just frowned in confusion.

“Remus?” Patton's voice was small and cracked in the middle.

Remus’ gaze snapped to Patton’s face and gave him his most wild smile, “Hey Daddy~” His expression and tone, Remus was sure, only made Patton frown at him so he dropped them, “How are you?”

“Hurting,” Patton replied truthfully and it only made Remus’ stomach turn again, with guilt now, “What happened?”

“Roman said you passed out. Blood loss.”

“That makes sense,” Patton replied softly, eyes blinking slowly with the effort it took to keep them open, Remus resisted the urge to affix metal contraptions to aid the other side’s efforts.

“So… now you know.”

“What King had meant?” Patton asked softly, “Yeah, I’m terribly aware why I can’t go to the imagination on my own.”

“Actually,” Remus replied softly, “Roman wants to ban you entirely.”

Patton sat bolt upright, ignoring the dizziness it caused and the strong hands holding his arms firmly to help keep him from keeling over, “What?! No! No, he can’t!”

“He already has,” Remus replied, “V and L have been given orders to not let you in again, and he asked me to do the same.”

“That’s not fair!” Patton exclaimed, “I can avoid it on my own!”

“I know you can, Papi. But Roman was very frightened, and he doesn’t want to experience that again. He’s not… he’s not entirely invalid.”

“That’s dumb though!” Patton exclaimed, “I don’t want to never go in again forever! Just avoid it for a good while, and go back in with an escort!”

“I know. I know. That’s what I said, but he’s not listening anymore. Stubborn bastard,” he rolled his eyes in annoyance before looking to Patton, “But he is right too. The imagination is dangerous, and it would be best that you were never placed in danger again, intentionally or no.”

“You can’t let him do this!” He exclaimed, implored, “It’s not fair!”

“I can’t make him do anything, Papi. I don’t control his door,” Remus replied calmly, “I have said my part, I have warned him that you wouldn’t like this turn of events. He said he would just be more careful to not let you through.”

Patton gaped in offence, “H-He can’t do that! Y-yo-you said-!” 

Remus grimaced in sympathy, he knew what King had said to Patton all those years ago. Now Roman was going against that. It didn’t sit well with him, but what could he do? 

“You said I belonged wherever I wander.”

Remus gaped at how that statement wrecked his entire intestinal tract, it felt like he’d swallowed a crate of diamonds and then been punched in the gut, but also so much worse because it wasn’t a physical pain, physical pain he could handle. Tears pricked his eyes, “I-I…”

“You said so!” Patton wailed, his voice cracking, before his anger fell to reveal heartbroken realisation, “Did you not mean it?” His voice was broken, and tears were forming in his eyes.

Remus’ eyes blew wide and his next breath rattled in his rib cage, “Of course I meant it, Patton. You belong wherever you are. B-But I can’t do anything if Roman doesn’t let you through his door.”

“Then let me through yours!” Patton exclaimed, a little wet with upset.

Remus took in another raggedy breath before he pulled Patton flush against his chest, tucking Patton’s head under his chin, “Patton, I… I want to, truly, but if I do that you could get hurt again,” He whispered, broken, “An-and that would be all my fault. I can’t… I’d… I couldn’t let you get hurt on my watch, Patton. I’d die from sheer disappointment in myself.”

Patton listened quietly before he wrapped his arms around Remus’s waist and pressed further into the firm chest of his fellow side, his cheek flush against Remus’ throat, where he could surely feel Remus’ pulse hammering, “Then don’t let that happen, silly. It’s… it’s going to be a long time before I want to brave the wilds of the imagination again, so you have plenty of time to prepare what you will.”

Surely Patton knew the effect he had on Remus- on King, he amended -but he seemed quite oblivious, only pleading.

“I don’t know…”

“I just don’t want to miss all the wonderful things the imagination has to offer. I just want to see all the wonderful things!”

“What about the terrible things,” Remus supplied gently, drawing back to look Patton in the eyes,  _ my things _ .

Patton watched him a moment, before he smiled a dazzling and optimistic smile, “If it is something you show me, it will be wonderful. No matter how terrible it is.”

Remus blinked at him in surprise, before a blush spread across his cheeks, “You’re sure? You’re sure you want to do this with me?”

Patton watched him for a moment, his eyes seemed to bore through Remus, tearing him apart in no way he’d felt before (and he’d physically torn himself apart, and had himself torn apart, what was growing to be an unhealthy amount), he felt like he was burning under Patton’s gaze.

“Who else?” Patton asked gently, cocking his head like he couldn’t possibly think of anyone in the entire universe he’d rather do this with.

Remus’ breath hitched and his eyes blew wide, before he slowly smiled and glared playfully, “Oh, you’re such a shit, you know that?”

“I am no such thing!” Patton protested, but his own smile was betraying him.

Remus sighed, shaking his head, “I can’t believe there’s a rebellious streak in all that righteousness.”

Patton burst out laughing, chortling in Remus’ face and snorting in pure amusement, “Oh! Oh, did you think I was  _ lawful _ good? Goodness no! I hate courtrooms!”

Remus guffawed at him in surprise, before he broke out grinning.  _ I could get used to that _ he thought to the music of Patton’s uncontrollable laughter, his smile faltering in confusion at the thought, before returning tenfold when Patton leaned forward to rest his forehead against Remus’ shoulder to try and stifle his laughter. 

When Patton eventually drew back after calming his amusement, Remus looked over to his closet and clicked his fingers. It shimmered green for a moment, then returned to its normal state.

“I’m only doing this because I sponsor all forms of chaos, and it would be hella hypocritical of me to stop you from going somewhere you’re not supposed to go.” He smiled despite himself, and even Patton could see there were other reasons he wasn’t sharing, soon though he schooled his smile and narrowed his eyes seriously at Patton, and he seemed… different with it, his gaze seemed a little deeper, familiar in a way that Patton couldn’t quite place, “But I’m putting in ground rules, that are ingrained in this gift. You can only use the door to enter the imagination when I am in the imagination, which will be signaled with that glow appearing again but only to your eye, don’t want you getting caught out do we?” He smiled before he blinked and he was all seriousness and familiarity again, “Any questions?”

“The door only works when you’re in the imagination?”

“Correct, yes.”

Patton seemed a little troubled by that statement, but shook his head and smiled, “That’s reasonable, thank you.”

Remus’ shoulders slumped a little and he smiled, crooked and terribly endearing in Patton’s opinion, “Good. I would also request you don’t use the door at all until at least your wounds have healed,”  _ though I would prefer you didn’t use it at all, ever, if it kept you safe _ .

Patton smiled, “I hadn’t been planning on it any-” He yawned, “-way…”

Remus smiled, and pushed Patton back down gently, “Alright Papi, you should probably get some rest now.”

“Mmm,” Patton replied, his eyes drifting closed, and as Remus stood his wrist was caught in a soft grip, stopping him in his tracks as he looked back to a pleading and adorable gaze, “Will you stay? I don’t want to be alone.”

Remus sighed softly, a small fond smile spreading across his features far too soft to normally form there, “If that’s what you want…”

Patton smiled too, relieved, and shifted to give Remus room to lay with him before tugging him down with him. He settled, snuggled, into the feral side’s chest, “It is.”

Remus scoffed softly, arm lazily snaking around Patton’s waist and tracing gentle patterns against his back until the other side’s breathing evened out, even interrupted a few times with little snores. Remus stared at the ceiling idly for a long while, before slowly turning his attention to Patton’s sleeping form.

His eyebrows were knitted together in an adorable frown, mouth open and drooling a little onto Remus, though the chaotic entity didn’t really mind that at all. His thoughts did supply what he would prefer that mouth to be doing, which Remus (and King) shut down quickly while he got out from under Patton as quickly as he could without disturbing the other side. 

This, of course, resulted in Remus sprawled on Patton’s floor as Patton cuddled into an octopus Remus had haphazardly created to take his place. 

The feral side stayed there for a moment, contemplating his existence, as most gays were wont to do when they found themselves sprawled on the ground instead of cuddling with cute boys. 

Eventually he sat up and looked over to Patton who was mumbling incoherently in his sleep, and smiled softly. 

It wasn’t the first time Remus had looked at Patton in that sort of light, certainly, he often found himself thinking about most of the sides in various sexual positions as part of his nature (Roman was the sole exclusion to this. He’d much rather gut or generally maim Roman and then himself than ever humour any train of thought that led  _ there _ ). 

Still, it made him panic in a way those sorts of things usually didn’t. Patton was making him act increasingly strange and confusing today… 

He needed a blood bath, stat. 

He was getting  _ soft _ .


	4. The Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this ages ago with the intent to publish a bit after I uploaded chapter 3  
> And now it's the Holiday Season.
> 
> So uh, happy holidays, here's a chapter, enjoy! :D

It was three days since Patton’s Big Adventure, as he liked to call it. Almost all his wounds had completely healed over. All but those acquired from the Dragon Witch’s talons running through his hair. Everything else had healed into small slivers of scars, and most couldn’t be seen past his shirt anyway. 

Still, with those last wounds, scabbed over, but not healed, he was stuck in his room. Simply so the others didn’t worry over him, particularly Virgil honestly.

So, to pass the time, he was perusing one of Joan’s plays they’d had Thomas proofread ages ago. He was just getting to his favourite part, where the james-bond type villain was lowering the hero into a volcano when the love interest, and a little-john esque character, came out of nowhere and saved them, when some music began to play around him.

Thomas, after his cold had passed, had gone to visit his parents, and had to take his mom up to Aunt Patty’s to visit for a few days. He was driving, so his mom had control of the auxiliary cord.

Patton knew the tune immediately as a particular song came on. A familiar song. A song he hadn’t heard in  _ years _ .

His breath hitched and he dropped the play onto the couch, it fell exactly onto the page he was reading at as it always did, as he slowly stood. 

His shoulders shook slightly in grief as he began to sway to the music, even after so long, the way he swayed was second nature. The way he had to wrap his arms around himself, instead of holding a long gone partner, always made the loneliness near unbearable, with tears brimming his eyes as he swayed in that familiar dance by himself. Always by himself. Not as it should be.

“Looking back,” He sang softly, voice raw already, “On the memory of… the dance we shared, ‘neath the stars above...” 

Patton looked up at his twinkling fairy lights and smiled as he spun, his room rearranging, furniture and stacks of things of old shifting to let him dance as he wished.

“For a moment! All the world was right, how could I have known that you’d ever say goodbye!” He cried out with the music, his spinning slowing to a stop.

“And now-! I’m glad I didn’t know!” His voice cracked and even he could taste the lie on his tongue, “The way it all would end… the way it all would go… Our lives,” His voice cracked, “Are better left in chance. I could have missed the pain, but I’d have had to miss… the dance.”

He stood there for a few seconds as tears fell down his face and the lyrics fell away to the instrumental. Just as the lyrics started up again firm hands took his gently.

“Holding you,” Answered a deep familiar voice that had Patton’s gaze snap up though he couldn’t quite see who it belonged to through his tears, “I held everything,” One of the hands let go to wipe away Patton’s tears which revealed Remus but his eyes were so much darker, so very familiar, “For a moment, wasn’t I the king?” Patton’s breath hitched and his eyes widened.

“But If I’d only known!” Thomas’ heart bellowed, promised, “How the King would fall, then who’s to say, you know I would have changed it all!” He didn’t really care he’d changed the words, he was talking to King, singing with King. He was right there! He needed to know.

King smiled softly through Remus’ face, as handsome and knowing as always, “And now,” He answered evenly, “I’m glad I didn’t know. The way it all would end, the way it all would go... Our lives are better left in chance, I could’ve missed the pain,” He shrugged before fixing Patton with one last look that was mixed with so many emotions even the heart couldn’t decipher them before he fell away, both slowly and instantly, and left Remus in his stead.

“But I’d have to miss the dance,” His voice was shaky and shrill compared to before, and the meaning behind the words had shifted, to something more hopeful for the future. It made something in Patton’s chest leap skyward and a smile tugged at his lips.

“It’s my life, it’s better left in chance, we could’ve missed the pain… but I’d have to miss the dance.” Patton echoed the song, and his companions’ singing.

He could feel it though, King’s approval and wish for them both to move on. 

Patton knew though, that King had always, and would always, have a special place in his (for lack of better term) heart. Always.

In that moment though… something had shifted, something had moved, and suddenly it felt like a gaping hole in his heart had filled what he didn’t know was missing. As his gaze brushed over a wary, little startled, crooked grin he knew… there wasn’t just one special place in his heart anymore, and clearly the Big Bad Duke had taken that spot. 

Several seconds passed as Patton came to this realisation before a soft and fond smile spread across his features and he leant forward, resting his cheek against Remus’ chest as they swayed to the melody surrounding them.

Eventually the music faded and they stood embracing for a few moments before Patton drew back to look up at Remus. His saviour, and the creepiest most backwards side in Thomas’ mind… who’d wormed his way (not literally, though he certainly could’ve done that at a moment’s notice) into Patton’s affections. It was… disarming. 

Patton had been so devoted to the memory of King for so long, and though he cared deeply for him still, this was undeniable. He felt something different for Remus than he did for everyone who resided in Thomas’ mind; for none had made their way into a place where Patton could see himself falling in love with them. None had harboured his romantic attention… until now.

He didn’t really know what to do with this, especially when the object of his sudden affections was right in front of him, except blush. So blush he did, past a smile so soft he wasn’t sure he was smiling at all.

“Thank you,” he whispered, “I-I needed that.”

“At your service,” Remus replied softly, his smile was still wary but it was growing into a warily crooked grin that just made him look more handsome to Patton’s eye. 

“Seriously, Remus,” Patton paused as Remus’ eyes blew wide at the address, “Remus, thank you.”

The dark side looked away with a harsh cough, “You-You’re welcome, Papi.”

Patton smiled softly and kissed Remus’ cheek. The dark side looked to him with an alarmed gaze, a blush spreading across his features, and his crooked smile growing dopier by the second.

Patton grinned and brushed his knuckles against Remus’ cheek, “That looks good on you.”

Remus spluttered and drew back to glare as his blush deepened, “Oh! Oh- fuck you! Fucking- I’m going to get you back for that one Papi! Just you wait, it’s going to be  _ bad _ .”

“Look forward to it,” Patton giggled cheekily and Remus continued spluttering as he sank out of the room.

Once he was gone Patton fell back into his couch as a blush of his own burned bright across his features, and he giggled giddily.

“It won’t be hard,” He whispered, cool fingers trying to calm the scarlet spreading to his ears and neck, “If I’m such a mess after flirting with  _ you _ .” He paused, “Oh my god! I flirted with Remus!” He picked up a cushion and screamed in mortification and giddiness.

This was going to be… interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song is The Dance by Garth Brooks, it's one of my childhood favourites and I listened to it again at some point and got Inspired. I hope you like it, it is a bit of a plot point (and I'm sorry if this is moving faster than people wanted, but Patton is.... Patton.)


End file.
